Trump Sent Out His First Presidential Alert To Everyone’s Phones And People Were Not Happy

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 17: U.S. President Donald Trump participates in the inaugural meeting of the Presidents National Council for the American Worker in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on September 17, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Oliver Contreras – Pool/Getty Images)

Many of us have developed coping mechanisms for dealing with the current administration. Some refuse to call him President. There are plenty of “Not My President” t-shirts floating around and more than a few folk who call him y’all’s president rather than say his name. Others have implemented the “45” tactic.

There are the militant among us who are fighting daily to resist and then there are folks like me who skim headlines, preferring to take a small doses approach to our country’s moral decay—or the exposure of that decay. For the most part, until someone mentions his name, I try not to think about President Trump. It’s painful and induces anxiety. So as I try to stay informed without inducing a melt down or feelings of despair and hopelessness.

But today, President Trump came to my phone.

In all fairness, I had been warned. There were news stories about the fact that Trump was going to be sending a message to the cell phones of every American citizen. Initially, I thought it was a text. But in reality, it was a presidential alert, which read:

“THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.”

For someone who tries as best I can to avoid this man, it felt like a violation, a reminder that the government is always watching. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one.

See what a few other people had to say about the unwelcomed alert on the following pages.